I was really looking forward to a long weekend at Sound View Inn. The staff member at the front desk , like most of the staff we encountered, was very pleasant. The view of the ocean did not disappoint.

Outdated room furnishings. Rugs were threadbare. The kitchenette was underwhelming, with a malfunctioning appliance we used to boil water. Minimal breakfast/dinner choices. Paper thin walls. Parking charge!

The location can’t be beat The pool and jacks shack made great margaritas

Ant traps in the room No bottled water in room

The location and view can't be beat: right on the water and has unmatched seaside views, especially at sunset. This is why they can get away with charging as much as they do, given some other drawbacks (see below). The private stretch of beach with chairs/umbrellas was great, and we appreciated the pool shack to get drinks, lunch, and have a dip in the pool. Staff is not overly helpful on the beach; one day we had a nice kid with a shovel help us with our umbrella and the next day they told my husband they couldn't help and he found the shovel himself. But we loved the sunset beach cocktail hours with live music; probably our favorite part of our stay. The beach bar is only open during this time in the evenings, not all afternoon for beach goers which we were surprised by (pool bar only). The facilities/decor of the hotel are nice. The style is a cute, old seaside motel feel but in an updated, nice way, a nostalgia vibe but not at all rundown. Bath products in the room were nice (Malin+Goetz). The fact that this hotel is dog friendly made it so easy to take a long weekend from the city over the holiday. They are really laid back about dogs, and leashed dogs are welcome on the beach which was a HUGE plus for us. The pet fee is the one area where I felt Sound View's pricing is incredibly reasonable and competitive. Please don't change that! Only a 5-10 min drive into town so it was nice to have the seaside aspect and still be able to get rather quickly to other restaurants. You do need a car if you're staying here though, since cabs/Ubers are hard to come by and on a busy street so not walkable (unfortunately you must pay the $26 night parking fee). The "piano" bar only had a piano player 1 night out of 4 that we saw, which was fine but mostly it was just a nice little bar.

"Standard" rooms have zero waterfront view with only 1 small window above the bed overlooking the parking lot. The room itself was clean and small size was ok, but I cannot believe they charge as much as they do for these Standard rooms considering all others have views/deck access right on the water. The Standard rooms should be half the price. I felt a bit foolish that we paid what we did after seeing our room. It's also misleading because Booking's hotel page states: "All the rooms at Sound View are waterfront." Because of this, I assumed we'd at least have a window view of the water, nope. Turns out the hotel's actual website does say "no water views" for these rooms but Booking should be more clear about that because I definitely would've paid to upgrade if I had realized. (Obviously a mix-up they have frequently as the front desk informed me upon check-in, unprompted, that our room didn't have a water view and that their website does state this.) Another discrepancy: there is no mini-bar in the Standard room as Booking states. Our dog's food requires refrigeration, so I had specifically checked for that. To their credit, the front desk guy the next morning was VERY helpful and they were able to find us a fridge by that afternoon and even comped us 2 nights of parking for the mix-up, which was really nice! But for what they're charging, I can't believe they don't provide this amenity. Housekeeping is only on request, which I liked in theory since we had our dog, but then it took 4 separate requests over 2 days to finally get some new towels, toilet paper, and 2 more hangers (there was a large walk-in closet but only 2 hangers, so we got 4 total). So, service was a tad do-it-yourself. I'm ok with a laid back nature, but expectations should be adjusted for some aspects here. I don't know that I'd call it 4-star.

The location cant be beat. My main reason for lower ratings revolved around the service aspect of staying there relative to the price of the room.

I asked for a ground floor room ( traveling with an infant). Did not get and they claimed i didn't request but we called ahead. The pack and play for baby was not in room and ww had to wait for an hour and many calls to get it ( even though we requested and called in advance). There were no hangers in room at all. Hair conditioner empty. Toolet leaking. No towels to be had at beach or pool before 10:30 am. The food in the ( expensive) restaurant was mediocre. Worst of all, they charged a parking fee per night for a hotel that can only be accessed by car! Thats insane for a hotel charging $600 a night, even in NoFo. My daughter had her wedding rehearsal dinner there. We used to love this hotel but i fear that the competition of new hotels is going to outshine them for the money. We know the area very well.

Beautiful view and nice breakfast. Friendly and helpful staff.

The room wasn’t as large as expected and unfortunately doors allowed very cold air in while closed. Relatively expensive overall

Location

I've been to the Sound view a few times. The rooms are decent, but nobody fixes the sliding doors in the junior sweets. The doors are very hard to slide open. Me and my wife were sitting on the porch. I went out, and my wife was stuck on the porch, and she wasn't able to open the door. The money I paid we should be able to open doors.

Great location very family friendly.. special thanks to Monica of front desk for going above and beyond with her service. Will definitely recommend this place and we cant wait come back soon 😀

The food!! We called and ordered a food pick up at the halyard hostess took my order and upon picking up they added an item that i did not order and they charged me an automatic 20% gratuity for pick up order which i find it odd.. and also we did order a chicken fingers and fries for my daughter at jacks shack and apparently it was very very salty. But again our whole experience was a amazing and will going back here soon 🤍

Location on the beach Nice pool

Maintenance needed. Frayed rug in room with a big hole—could’ve tripped on it